Ray A. Williamson

The socioeconomic benefits of Earth science and applications research: reducing the risks and costs of natural disasters in the USA

Abstract A wealth of satellite data has provided information on weather and climate phenomena for the past 40 years. Within this period, however, the heavy human and economic costs of natural disasters have increased considerably. Using hurricanes, droughts, floods and earthquakes which occurred in the USA as examples, this article describes how Earth science can be applied to such situations to predict or mitigate their effects. The economic value of providing such information is discussed, as are the issues that can affect how successful its provision will be.

The Implications of Emerging Satellite Information Technologies for Global Transparency and International Security

The worldwide information revolution has important implications for how states deal with conflict, both within and across national borders. Widespread access to increasingly powerful personal computers, lower cost telecommunications, global media coverage, Internet data flows, commercial observation satellites, and global positioning satellites are contributing to an increased international transparency, both enhancing and complicating states’ ability to manage conflict. On the one hand, amplified transparency provides policy makers with new instruments for supporting conflict prevention, management, and resolution. Yet, the global transparency and connectivity provided by modern information technologies also promises to diminish the preeminent role of states in international politics. National governments no longer possess a monopoly on relevant and credible information for dealing with various international security problems. By providing a feasible alternative to hierarchical power arrangements, these same technologies increase the importance of nonstate actors such as the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the news media on the international scene.

Continuity of moderate resolution Earth observation data: is an international solution the answer?

Abstract The operation of the US Landsat-7, launched in 1999, has proved a marked success. Together with the earlier Landsat data stored at the US Geological Survey Earth Data Analysis Center and other centers around the world, Landsat 7 data constitute a powerful tool for analyzing changes in the Earths surface. However, the continuity of the Landsat system is not assured. An international system in which other countries participate could provide a more robust system, while spreading the costs and benefits of supplying such data more broadly. This paper explores the potential for creating an international arrangement to supply data of moderate resolution and extensive coverage in order to contribute to planetary stewardship, and discusses several different implementation approaches.

The US–Europe technology gap in space transportation: the view from the USA

Abstract This paper examines the debate within the USA over how to meet the perceived competition from the successful European Ariane launcher and the loss of US market share for space launch services that it represented. In particular, it explores the origins of the 1983 Reagan Administration policy to turn over expendable launch vehicle production and operation to private industry. The Administrations other decisions to: (1) use the Space Shuttle to fly all government payloads, and (2) allow NASA to market Space Shuttle services commercially, conflicted with this commercialization policy. These policies effectively caused US industry to delay entry into the international competition for launch services until after the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986.

The Opportunities and Challenges of Preservation Technologies

The pace of technology development in fields other than historic preservation has generally outstripped that of historic preservation, resulting in a predominant flow from those fields into historic preservation practice. This chapter summarizes some of the major trends in technology transfer and explores some of the issues that the increased use of advanced technologies brings to the practice of historic preservation. It also examines the relationship of the development of technologies for historic preservation to public policy